Africa Finance Forum Blog

Happy New Year to you and your loved ones! 2014 was an important year for the MFW4A Partnership Secretariat, characterised by substantive progress in the implementation of our 2012 - 2014 Strategy and our move from the African Development Bank's (AfDB) temporary home in Tunis to the Bank's statutory headquarters in Abidjan. The move was made possible thanks to the resilience and goodwill of our staff who worked hard to ensure business continuity.

The third Partnership Forum in Dakar, Senegal, in June 2014 was a significant milestone for us. The event provided a unique opportunity for African opinion leaders, financial sector stakeholders and development partners to take stock of progress in Africa's financial systems, share experiences, exchange best practices, and discuss innovative approaches to challenges facing African financial systems. All of us at the Partnership Secretariat are grateful for your enthusiastic support as evidenced by the participation of more than 350 delegates from over 40 countries. Our thanks also go to the Organising Committee for putting together such a rich event. You can view a selection of photos from the Forum on Flickr, and download the full Forum report from our website.

In 2014, the Secretariat placed special emphasis on its work with African financial sector stakeholders. The Advisory Council was revamped and reconstituted as a smaller body with a mandate to provide advice and effectively support and contribute to the Partnership's strategic objectives. We look forward to engaging with our new Advisory Council members in 2015. Last year also saw the establishment of the African Pension Funds Network (APFN), a platform for the exchange of knowledge and expertise amongst industry participants across the continent. The network already counts several achievements, including the release of a joint publication Pension Funds and Private Equity: Unlocking Africa's Potential, with the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Emerging Markets Private Equity Association (EMPEA).

We also continued to strengthen our existing networks, including the Community of African Banking Supervisors (CABS), whose 2014-2016 work plan and budget was endorsed by the Association of African Central Banks (AACB) Bureau. In agricultural finance, we supported the Comprehensive Africa Agricultural Development Program (CAADP) through institutional support projects. We hired an agricultural finance expert with the support of GIZ to help with the policy process in the CAADP implementation. GIZ also funded a study to review the status of agricultural finance policy coordination across five African countries. You can download the Synthesis Report in both English and French.

We also continued to coordinate donors' efforts to support financial sector development. The Housing Finance Donor Working Group (DWG) initiated discussions on the launch of a training programme for the francophone participants, in collaboration with Cape Town University and under the leadership of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD). Moreover, work plans were endorsed for both the Digital Finance and Remittances DWGs with plans to launch joint donor interventions in 2015 that respond to the priorities of Africa's financial sectors.

Our website was upgraded in 2014 to provide an enhanced browsing experience. The high and continuously increasing usage of the website, blogs, social media, newsletters, press digests, and the knowledge centre that houses publications confirm the value of MFW4A's knowledge products and services. We have also developed an Online Collaborative Platform (OCP) designed to facilitate interactions among MFW4A working group members, foster knowledge sharing and promote peer-to-peer learning. Last but not least, we have been maintaining a comprehensive Donor Projects' Database that is proving useful for our stakeholders seeking information on financial sector related projects in Africa.

Our Annual Supervisory Committee (SC) Meeting was held in December 2014, hosted by the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in their headquarters in Bonn, Germany. MFW4A SC members, staff, and some Advisory Council members discussed the Partnership's new three-year Strategy, expected to be endorsed at the end of January, 2015. The 2015-2017 Strategy will put the Secretariat and the Partnership in a stronger position to deliver the change that Africa's financial sector needs. Specifically, the Strategy aims to:

Transform MFW4A from a partnership of donors to a partnership between donors and African financial sector stakeholders;

Elevate the Partnership from its current position of a knowledge hub into an effective catalyst for positive change in the financial sector landscape; and

Ensure long-term financial sustainability for the Partnership and the Secretariat.

The achievements of the MFW4A Partnership Secretariat are the result of hard work and commitment of our partners and African financial sector stakeholders. I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation for all of your support and engagement with our vision. MFW4A has become a key voice on financial sector development in Africa, and a lot of the interaction and the sharing of the knowledge and experiences in the field stem from the Partnerships' initiatives. Let's continue to keep this positive momentum going!

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